Parents Concerned Over Poway Unified Zoning Changes

Bernardo Point Parents Say They Don't Want Kids To Change Schools

About 150 North County parents went to the Poway Unified School District office in Carmel Mountain on Monday to plead with the school board to not change their children's schools.

Concerned parents from a development called Bernardo Point said they dont want to change their children's schools because of new zoning changes.

"You've taken our kids out of a stable situation, with all of their friends, teammates and neighbors," said Arnie Borromeo, a Bernardo Point resident.

"Please reconsider your decision," another parent told the board.

Some of those voices heard were from the students themselves.

"I'm a really good student," Jason Borromeo told the board. "[I] make good grades. [I'm] on the safety patrol and [I] sell ice cream on Wednesdays. I hope you let me go to Oak Valley and Del Norte."

But because Poway Unified recently redrew its district lines, by the next school year, Bernardo Point students from kindergarten to high school will have attend different schools on the opposite side of Interstate 15.

"The board has a responsibility to serve all 34,000 kids in this district," said Poway Unifed Superintendent John Collins. "They are also thinking about the children who live in the Monterey boundary who pay the Mello-Roos taxes who are not able to get into the school because it is too crowded."

Eventually, students from the Bernardo Point development who would have attended Monterey Ridge Elementary will have to go to Turtleback. Oak Valley Middle School students will have to go to Bernardo Heights. High school students at Del Norte will have to go to Rancho Bernardo.

However, the superintendent said the changes will affect the future of new students, which means the students can stay at the schools they are at for now.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Dave Kruger, a Bernardo Point resident. "I was a little surprised to hear that. I think our support bolstered that decision and I'm grateful for that."

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